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Monday, April 11, 2011

Medical Mondays: When Good Intentions Hurt

Happy Monday everyone. Today's question is from the lovely Paula at Write Now:

"Two of my teen characters are involved in a car accident that involves a lot of jostling, spinning, car crunching. They both have seat belts on and both have air bags that deploy. I'm trying to figure out what a realistic injury would be where they may need rest for five or so days at home but nothing that would stop them from walking around and functioning."

The first thing I wondered was, if a car is relatively intact after an accident, how else could the passengers be injured?

What about the safety mechanisms? Could they hurt the passengers?(This may be obvious but it still is worth repeating: seat belts and the supplemental safety of airbags drastically reduce risk of death in car accidents. Period. This post should not scare you into not using your seat belt!)Three-point seat belts (what we all use today) could cause injuries to the spine and abdomen. The can be as severe as requiring surgery for internal organ damage or spinal paralysis, but for the accident that Paula has in mind, we could make these mild enough they didn't require hospitalization or surgery.

Air bag injuries. Air bags deploy at high velocity and expand via hot gases from a chemical reaction. The following are a list of possible injuries Paula could choose from to keep someone home for a few days, but without causing serious injury:

This is perfect. My two teen characters get into a car accident, but the damage is greater (one ends up in a coma). I watched a simulation of the airbags being deployed just to figure out if it would still be inflated shortly after the accident. I figured this was a better idea than getting into an accident to find out.

I was in a very severe car accident that I walked away from, but I still hit my knee really hard and ached for days. And I had a friend who was in a car accident once who walked away, but his steering wheel and driver's seat were completely twisted--in part because of the forces he and the car were subjected to as the impact occurred. I think it's plausible that someone could just have been subjected to incredible force without having an acute injury, but that would lay them out for awhile.

What a great service you offer writers, Lydia! Excellent fodder for our stories!I'm a strict buckler upper too. Thankfully my kids yell "I'm not buckled!!!" franctically if I start backing up out of the garage if one of them isn't buckled, too (though I usually ask "Everyone buckled? before backing out).

I don't know if cars with airbags still do this, but for bad accidents in older cars, the seatbelt has a tendency to break your collar bone. (I met more people in therapy with broken collar bones than one would imagine.)

And I STILL wear my seat belt. Having a broken collarbone hurts pretty bad, but it's better than being dead.

I'm a Claim's professional, so automatically every single scenario just ran through my head...lol. There are ALOT of factors that would need to go into this...type of car, was it a more than one vehicle accident, how fast were they going, what kind of impact was it (front, side, rear), age, height, and weight of the passengers can also be a huge factor...

Sorry I just went huge insurance nerd on you. Maybe we should do a joint post? lol.

That is right seatbelts can often cause bruises after a serious crash. Not only that but because of a of the advances in vehicle safety people are surviving accidents they would have died in ten years ago.

These accidents are causing serious injuries that need long hospital stays and expensive recovery which is driving up our insurance costs.

B.E. you have a good point. I also didn't mention that the old fashioned lap belts without the shoulder restraint used to cause all kinds of spinal, pelvic and abdominal injuries when people "jackknifed" during a crash.

I'm excited because I actually know some of what you are talking about! :D Thankfully I've never been in a major car accident, but I've always imagined that if I was, my seat belt would probably do a lot of damage to my body (especially my stomach) even if it did keep me strapped down.

Love your Medical Mondays, Lydia!

By the way, if you're interested, come sign up for my 100-Followers Blogfest, titled "Inanimation," it's going to be great!

My mom was injured when her airbag went off after she swerved to miss a dear and ran into a fence. Her hands had minor burns and her throat hurt so bad she could barely talk. Intersting post as always!

I had no idea about how the safety mechanisms work or what injuries they can cause. Wow, you really did a great job on this post. It's an eye-opener (hopefully with nothing poking said eye), and I promise to always wear my seat belt despite the scary stuff. ;)

A few years ago I was rear-ended very hard, and I can vouch for the internal seat belt injuries. Still, my face stayed away from the windsheild, so it was well worth the internal bruising. Thanks for a great post, as usual!

During my time as a Reserve Police Officer I took an Accident Investigation Class. There isn't anything that could scare me enough or convince me not to wear a seat belt! No worries there. Interesting info that I'm filing away for later use though, thanks!

I got half my face pretty much peeled off by the airbags in my car once (from the abrasion of the material). It looked disgusting for a good week, and I really wish I had been able to stay home! I had to go to work with bandages all over my face :(

I had no idea you could get that many injuries from an airbag. But the alternative of hitting the windshield or going through it, are way worse.

My mother-in-law's airbag deployed once. She got some redness, but was otherwise fine.

I would think most people would be out for a few days because of not wearing a seatbelt or using an airbag and having a minor-moderate accident. From knowing people who have had accidents, those are the ones who are out of commissions for a few days.

This is an interesting post as it coincides w/ a novel I just finished reading. The lead character is driving & a sharp turn lands the car into the water. He's a good citizen & is wearing his seatbelt. Fortunately, he's able to unfasten the seatbelt & escape.

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